Firewall?

[Apolio]

I’ve been trying to ask around about the steam deck and setting up a firewall as I’ve recently been trying to set my desktop side of my steam deck up, it says in the settings that there is no firewall active and I need to install one such as “ufw or firewalld” does anyone know if I need a firewall and also how to set one up as I'm completely new to linux and also can’t find anything online about it apart from people arguing, Thanks

[Mahjik]

Here's an older post that would be relevant:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/0/3269060963458086754/

[Apolio]

Originally posted by Mahjik:

Here's an older post that would be relevant:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/0/3269060963458086754/

Thanks I’ll have a read and see if i can find anything but at a glance it doesn’t look like they got much further then I have

[DooMsDaYRangeR]

Originally posted by Apolio:

I’ve been trying to ask around about the steam deck and setting up a firewall as I’ve recently been trying to set my desktop side of my steam deck up, it says in the settings that there is no firewall active and I need to install one such as “ufw or firewalld” does anyone know if I need a firewall and also how to set one up as I'm completely new to linux and also can’t find anything online about it apart from people arguing, Thanks

You don’t need a firewall because routers have them built in. If you’re going to use the browser on the Linux desktop, then you may want to install some antivirus software. If your going to be using public WiFi you may want to install a VPN like ProtonVPN.

[Minneyar]

Unless you have a need to block specific incoming or outgoing ports, you don't really need a firewall. If you do have a need, there is a command line program called iptables that can customize the Linux kernel firewall, but be forewarned that it's not very user-friendly and the Steam Deck does not have a GUI for managing it.

Antivirus software is also mostly pointless because nearly zero viruses target Linux, and the ones that do are generally all aimed at infecting servers. Even Linux anti-virus programs mostly just scan for Windows viruses, because they're most commonly used on file servers that are accessed by Windows clients. As long as you don't use a web browser to download and run untrusted programs, you'll be fine.

[Apolio]

So can I use browsers or do you advise against using anything?

[DooMsDaYRangeR]

Originally posted by Apolio:

So can I use browsers or do you advise against using anything?

You can use a browser on your Steam Deck. Just like with a home computer, don’t download anything you shouldn’t.

If your at home you really don’t have anything to worry about. Your router will handle firewall stuff. If your using public WiFi, then you need a VPN like ProtonVPN.

[LeviathanWon]

Just read about flatpaks and wayland...bundled OS image it's a childproof lighter... stop talking about firewalls on this small handheld console like computer, PLEASE.

[forever-and-a-day]

looks like firewalld is included now, could be wrong